Overheard in Fog City

Luke Thomas
FCJ Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
Photo by Adam Aufdencamp

By Luke Thomas

December 3, 2007, 12:22 p.m.

Mayoral candidate sentenced to nine months in jail

Grasshopper Alec Kaplan

Former mayoral candidate Grasshopper Alec Kaplan was sentenced to nine months in jail this morning by Judge Carol Yaggy after a jury found him guilty on November 29 of one misdemeanor count of making criminal threats against a passenger.

Kaplan opted for a nine-month sentence without conditions over an offer of six months with three years probabtion.

"Kaplan rejected probation which would have placed numerous conditions on him for three years including not being able to operate his taxicab. He showed a lot of guts to accept a longer sentence," defense attorney Zadik Shapiro told Fog City by phone.

The sentence stems from a July 26 incident involving a complaint from a woman who rode in Kaplan's taxicab between San Francisco International Airport and San Francisco. The passenger, Janet Vanderbose, reported Kaplan to police after Kaplan allegedly called her names and made her feel threatened.

Following Vanderbose' complaint, the San Francisco Taxi Commission revoked Kaplan's medallion and suspended his permit.

Police initially charged Kaplan with two counts of felony threat of terrorism, felony false imprisonment and one misdemeanor battery count. Prosecutors later reduced the felony counts to misdemeanor charges.

In a separate hearing this morning, Kaplan was sentenced to six months in jail by Judge Garrett Wong for driving a motor vehicle for hire without a taxicab medallion and driving a motor vehicle for hire without an "A" car/driver public passenger vehicle permit.

Both sentences, according to the District Attorney's office, will run concurrently.

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